Enid Blyton (1897–1968) was an English children's writer whose books
have sold more than 600 million copies. She wrote on a wide range of
topics, but is best remembered for her Noddy, Famous Five, and Secret
Seven series. Her first book, Child Whispers (cover pictured), was
published in 1922. Following the success of her early novels such as
Adventures of the Wishing-Chair (1937) and The Enchanted Wood (1939),
Blyton went on to build a literary empire, sometimes producing fifty
books a year. Her work became increasingly controversial from the 1950s
onwards because of the alleged unchallenging nature of her writing and
the themes of her books. Some libraries and schools banned her works,
which the BBC had refused to broadcast from the 1930s until the 1950s
because they were perceived to lack literary merit. Her books have been
criticised as being elitist, sexist, racist, xenophobic and at odds with
the more liberal environment emerging in post-war Britain, but have
continued to be bestsellers. The story of her life was dramatised in a
2009 BBC film, Enid, featuring Helena Bonham Carter; there have also
been several adaptations of her books for stage, screen and television.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1314:
In the decisive battle in the First War of Scottish
Independence, Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeated English
troops under Edward II near Bannockburn, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn>
1622:
Dutch–Portuguese War: An outnumbered Portuguese force
repelled a Dutch attack in the Battle of Macau, the only major military
engagement that was fought between two European powers on the Chinese
mainland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Macau>
1880:
"O Canada" (audio featured), today the national anthem of
Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, Quebec, during a Saint-Jean-
Baptiste Day banquet.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada>
1994:
A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress based at
Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane County, Washington, crashed, killing
all four crew members, and later providing a case study on the
importance of compliance with safety regulations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash>
2010:
After 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, John Isner
defeated Nicolas Mahut at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships in the
longest match in tennis history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isner%E2%80%93Mahut_match_at_the_2010_Wimbledon_Championships>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
dead tree edition:
(idiomatic, pejorative, humorous) Paper version of a publication that
can be found online.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dead_tree_edition>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The soul may always say, whether occupied with temporal or
spiritual things, "My sole occupation is love." Happy life! happy state!
and happy the soul which has attained to it!
--John of the Cross
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_of_the_Cross>